Faith Stories
A Severed Wasp by Madeline L’Engle
My copy is tattered, yellowed and worn with reading and rereading. Although not as well-known as many of her other books, A Severed Wasp is filled with wisdom woven into the story of Katherine Forrester Vigneras, a newly retired concert pianist. With Katherine’s move to New York, she encounters a new community of people who enable her to both come to terms with her past and move into a new and fruitful phase of her life.
The Collected Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Every once in a while I pull a book of the shelf to reread. Singers stories are ones worth dipping back into again and again. Mostly set in the Jewish communities in the 19th century, Singer draws you in this world and like all good authors helps us to reflect on our own world, thorough theirs. Take some time to read these short stories.
Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren F. Winner
Lauren Winner’s gift to us is her transparency. She is willing to let us into her musings and struggles in her life and faith. Even as her relationship with God dries up and blows away she is willing to let us walk with her, through its death and at the resurrection to a new and renewed life. Winner’s allows us to learn with her the lessons of faith, lost and found.
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Written in 1960 and set in the world rebuilding after a devastating war, this science fiction story follows the evolution of an order of monks tasked with protecting and transmitting the few remaining pieces of knowledge that have survived. One of the few surviving bits of information from the pre-war world are two papers from the founder of their order, Leibowitz. As each generation looks for information from these fragile documents, the order struggles to balance, their task of preserving the wisdom of the past with advancing technology. Many of their quandaries mirror our own questions and struggles. It’s a fun and engaging summer read for adults and teens.
The Last Presbyterian? Remembering the Faith of My Forebears by Kenneth L. Cuthbertson
The title of the book is a bit misleading. While it certainly provides a wonderful look at the faith and spiritual practices of two families steeped in the Presbyterian tradition over the last five centuries, it takes the reader on a journey that asks profound questions about our own spiritual lives. Looking at practices embedded deep in Presbyterian tradition, such as Sabbath-keeping, Psalmody, Bible reading and Duty, the author help is to look at each from the perspectives both those factors that made them so important to those who had come before us, but how each traditions has the opportunity to enrich our 21st century lives. While looking at these practices through the lens of his family’s deep roots in a single tradition, the book opens to us the question of which practices from our own tradition would benefit from a reexamination and renewal. We live in a world that constantly looks to the new and novel, this book provides us with a template that enables us to use the wisdom of the past to water the future.
The Bishop of Mars by Steven Charleston
I’ve been a sucker for a good Science Fiction book since High School. In college I even took a course in the genre and had the opportunity to read huge swaths of Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clark, and Ray Bradbury. It’s been a long time since I’ve found one that give a truly new take on our future, without painting it in such dark colors that I had no interest in finishing the book. The Bishop of Mars gives us a world where The Vegas has taken over the Western Hemisphere in service to the other two existing powers, Russia and China. Unlike other sci fi worlds, religion continues to exert an influence on many. The book is a page turner as we follow the twists and turns of “Lucky” from his childhood on the streets to his rocky tenure as the first “Bishop of Mars”. I’m hoping there will be a sequel!
An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
Where do you encounter God? That is perhaps the central question of Barbara Brown Taylor’s book. Taking up a variety of “practices” Taylor helps us to look with new eyes and glimpse the sacred nature of such ordinary things as walking, laundry, getting lost or the day to day experiences of living in our own skin. Although I find this kind of writing helpful (it reminded me of Annie Dillard Pilgrim at Tinker Creek), I wondered how some of her insights would translate to my crazy, child-filled life. Beautiful written and profound, this books would have helped me more if it reflected my life a bit more closely.
An Unexpected Christmas (CD)
Ana Hernandez (Artist), Virginia Girls Choir (Artist), Various Artists (Composer), Dan Moriarty (Conductor)
Ana Hernandez is a remarkable recording artist. She has the ability to take music and make it float to heaven; old standards take on new meaning and depth of understanding that touches the soul. You can listen to her work on Sound Cloud at https://soundcloud.com/anahermusic/ifinyourheart, and get a taste of the wonder that she creates. Now buy the CD and have it ready to play while you trim your Christmas tree and for many nights afterwards.
Mixed up Love by Jon M. Sweeney and Michal Woll
When a Christian publisher and a Rabbi get married it can lead to many wonderful things. In this case it has resulted in a book exploring the surprises and challenges of living in an interfaith family. Going beyond their own stories Sweeney and Woll lead us to consider what is important or not as couples negotiate differences of faith (or no-faith) in their lives together. It is lively, readable and helpful in thinking through what is means to be spiritual as a couple and as a family in the 21st century.
Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans
I remember hearing that “God made one big mistake, God created the church out of people”. vans’ reflections on her journey of faith in and out of the church reminds us that we are a struggling people, prone to pride, as much as compassion, and sin as well has holiness, and doubt as much as faith. For those of us that have been around this church-world for a while, this story will be very familiar. It is also a well written and compelling read. Evans draws on a wide variety of other authors as she walks us through her story of joy, community and her effort to find Christ in the midst of it all.
Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott’s transparency is what is most engaging in her writing. She reveals her struggles and her joys in every page. In Stitches, Lamott invites us to see how the torn and tattered bits of life can be both mended and remade to create a new and useful way of living. Hope and honesty are her watchword as she walks through life. A short book it still give one much to ponder.
My copy is tattered, yellowed and worn with reading and rereading. Although not as well-known as many of her other books, A Severed Wasp is filled with wisdom woven into the story of Katherine Forrester Vigneras, a newly retired concert pianist. With Katherine’s move to New York, she encounters a new community of people who enable her to both come to terms with her past and move into a new and fruitful phase of her life.
The Collected Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Every once in a while I pull a book of the shelf to reread. Singers stories are ones worth dipping back into again and again. Mostly set in the Jewish communities in the 19th century, Singer draws you in this world and like all good authors helps us to reflect on our own world, thorough theirs. Take some time to read these short stories.
Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren F. Winner
Lauren Winner’s gift to us is her transparency. She is willing to let us into her musings and struggles in her life and faith. Even as her relationship with God dries up and blows away she is willing to let us walk with her, through its death and at the resurrection to a new and renewed life. Winner’s allows us to learn with her the lessons of faith, lost and found.
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Written in 1960 and set in the world rebuilding after a devastating war, this science fiction story follows the evolution of an order of monks tasked with protecting and transmitting the few remaining pieces of knowledge that have survived. One of the few surviving bits of information from the pre-war world are two papers from the founder of their order, Leibowitz. As each generation looks for information from these fragile documents, the order struggles to balance, their task of preserving the wisdom of the past with advancing technology. Many of their quandaries mirror our own questions and struggles. It’s a fun and engaging summer read for adults and teens.
The Last Presbyterian? Remembering the Faith of My Forebears by Kenneth L. Cuthbertson
The title of the book is a bit misleading. While it certainly provides a wonderful look at the faith and spiritual practices of two families steeped in the Presbyterian tradition over the last five centuries, it takes the reader on a journey that asks profound questions about our own spiritual lives. Looking at practices embedded deep in Presbyterian tradition, such as Sabbath-keeping, Psalmody, Bible reading and Duty, the author help is to look at each from the perspectives both those factors that made them so important to those who had come before us, but how each traditions has the opportunity to enrich our 21st century lives. While looking at these practices through the lens of his family’s deep roots in a single tradition, the book opens to us the question of which practices from our own tradition would benefit from a reexamination and renewal. We live in a world that constantly looks to the new and novel, this book provides us with a template that enables us to use the wisdom of the past to water the future.
The Bishop of Mars by Steven Charleston
I’ve been a sucker for a good Science Fiction book since High School. In college I even took a course in the genre and had the opportunity to read huge swaths of Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clark, and Ray Bradbury. It’s been a long time since I’ve found one that give a truly new take on our future, without painting it in such dark colors that I had no interest in finishing the book. The Bishop of Mars gives us a world where The Vegas has taken over the Western Hemisphere in service to the other two existing powers, Russia and China. Unlike other sci fi worlds, religion continues to exert an influence on many. The book is a page turner as we follow the twists and turns of “Lucky” from his childhood on the streets to his rocky tenure as the first “Bishop of Mars”. I’m hoping there will be a sequel!
An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
Where do you encounter God? That is perhaps the central question of Barbara Brown Taylor’s book. Taking up a variety of “practices” Taylor helps us to look with new eyes and glimpse the sacred nature of such ordinary things as walking, laundry, getting lost or the day to day experiences of living in our own skin. Although I find this kind of writing helpful (it reminded me of Annie Dillard Pilgrim at Tinker Creek), I wondered how some of her insights would translate to my crazy, child-filled life. Beautiful written and profound, this books would have helped me more if it reflected my life a bit more closely.
An Unexpected Christmas (CD)
Ana Hernandez (Artist), Virginia Girls Choir (Artist), Various Artists (Composer), Dan Moriarty (Conductor)
Ana Hernandez is a remarkable recording artist. She has the ability to take music and make it float to heaven; old standards take on new meaning and depth of understanding that touches the soul. You can listen to her work on Sound Cloud at https://soundcloud.com/anahermusic/ifinyourheart, and get a taste of the wonder that she creates. Now buy the CD and have it ready to play while you trim your Christmas tree and for many nights afterwards.
Mixed up Love by Jon M. Sweeney and Michal Woll
When a Christian publisher and a Rabbi get married it can lead to many wonderful things. In this case it has resulted in a book exploring the surprises and challenges of living in an interfaith family. Going beyond their own stories Sweeney and Woll lead us to consider what is important or not as couples negotiate differences of faith (or no-faith) in their lives together. It is lively, readable and helpful in thinking through what is means to be spiritual as a couple and as a family in the 21st century.
Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans
I remember hearing that “God made one big mistake, God created the church out of people”. vans’ reflections on her journey of faith in and out of the church reminds us that we are a struggling people, prone to pride, as much as compassion, and sin as well has holiness, and doubt as much as faith. For those of us that have been around this church-world for a while, this story will be very familiar. It is also a well written and compelling read. Evans draws on a wide variety of other authors as she walks us through her story of joy, community and her effort to find Christ in the midst of it all.
Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott’s transparency is what is most engaging in her writing. She reveals her struggles and her joys in every page. In Stitches, Lamott invites us to see how the torn and tattered bits of life can be both mended and remade to create a new and useful way of living. Hope and honesty are her watchword as she walks through life. A short book it still give one much to ponder.